Just a Few Neon Hits Were Fine With Irvin

Michael Irvin, a guest on Dan Patrick’s ESPN radio show Monday, said that when he played for the Dallas Cowboys and used to go up against his close friend Deion Sanders, he’d always slap him in the head a few times.

“That meant a $5,000 fine,” Irvin said. “I’d just go ahead and write a check on Thursday and send it in. So when they called on Monday to say, ‘You owe us a $5,000 fine,’ I’d say, ‘Check around the office, you should already have the check.’ ”

More Deion: Bob Hille of the Sporting News says his “lock of the week” is that Sanders, now with CBS, will wear an ugly suit.

Trivia time: Who were the two 1,000-yard rushers on the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and what was unusual about how the No. 2 running back reached 1,000?

Luck of the draw: USC Coach Pete Carroll, asked what opponents concerned him, said, “Cal, because they’re our next opponent.”

He might also have mentioned Oregon, but the Ducks aren’t on the Trojans’ schedule. Talk about a lucky break.

The self-evaluator: Shaquille O’Neal, in an interview with Fox Sports Net’s Carolyn Hughes, said, “I think what makes me me is that I’m humble.”

There goes that Shaq again, bragging about his humility.

The wordsmith: O’Neal told Hughes he wanted to win at least five NBA titles with the Lakers, “So I can be remembered in the same breathera as Magic and Kareem. Right now I’m not in that breathera.”

Breathera? Maybe Shaq has a plethora of other words he’d like to share.

Who’s No 1? Blitz, the Montreal Alouettes’ mascot, was fined $5,000 after he drew a 10-yard penalty for “pecking an official” during a touchdown celebration Sept. 14.

Owners Bob and Lisa Wetenhall advanced Blitz a $6,000 bonus he was expecting to get after the season, so he could pay the fine.

“We think he’s the best mascot there is in professional sports throughout North America,” the owners said in a news release.

Right. Let the mascot wars begin.

What’s the hurry? From the Sporting News: “Cleveland outfielder Milton Bradley was cited in Ohio for fleeing the scene after getting pulled over for speeding. The guy has endured five months of Indian baseball, and now he can’t sit through a five-minute traffic stop?”

Trivia answer: Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris. Morris finished the season with 991 yards, but a couple of days later a statistician discovered that Morris had mistakenly been charged with a nine-yard loss.

And finally: The New York Post, noting that Lawrence Taylor will coach one of the teams participating in the “Lingerie Bowl,” a pay-per-view event during halftime of the Super Bowl, wonders whether “LT” doesn’t stand for Lucky Taylor.

The Post pointed out that Taylor wouldn’t be much of a taskmaster. Asked about his strategy, Taylor is quoted as saying, “Practice over, everybody hit the showers.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.